


Fall Apart to Get Together

by MelyndaR



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-06
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-06 07:20:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 7,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3125882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelyndaR/pseuds/MelyndaR
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A case gets personal for Reid. Can everything turn out all right or will everything fall apart?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Newport, Oregon

The five year old's cries echoed off the hard, cold walls around her. So did the occasional rattle of the chain on her ankle that was also bolted to the floor. Every now and then she would cry out hoarsely for help. Thoughts raced through her terrified mind.

Over time, though she had no idea how long, her tears began to subside and she collected herself. She calmed down and her thoughts became more lucid. She began to look around for a way to escape.

In the semi-darkness her main thought was:  _What would Daddy do?_


	2. Chapter 2

JJ snatched up the phone. She noticed a new e-mail and recognized the sequence of events. Someone had a case for them.

"Agent Jareau speaking."

"I'm Detective Jeremy Randall with the department for Lincoln County, Oregon. I just sent you an email with the details of a missing person's case. Five year old Lily Arnold has been missing for three hours, taken from a park in Newport. Her mother specifically asked that I call your team."

JJ had been looking over the email and all of its attachments as Detective Randall spoke. Something struck her as off, maybe familiar even.

"We'll be there as soon as possible, Detective. I'll debrief my team and we'll be on our way." She hung up, got everything in order for a presentation, and left her office.

Lily's time was ticking away.

"Hotch," She burst into her boss's office without intro. "We have a case in Newport, Oregon."

Hotch nodded and went to leave the office. She didn't let him though, stepping into the office and closing the door behind her. He looked at her in confusion.

She asked him, "Do you remember the Lila Archer case…."


	3. Chapter 3

When Hotch and JJ emerged from the office of the afore mentioned man, Spencer could tell something was wrong. Whatever case JJ had gotten was going to be worse than usual. The only time he ever saw those looks was when a case was going to affect a member of the team, and those were always the worst ones.

"Everyone on the jet." Hotch ordered as JJ alerted Rossi. "Now."

"What about a briefing?" Rossi asked, coming out of his office.

"On the jet." Hotch answered shortly.

JJ shared a final look with Hotch, her boyfriend, before she headed for the elevator, all ready digging out her cell phone to call Henry's babysitter, someone she'd had on speed-dial ever since she broke up with Will. Rossi, Morgan and Prentiss all followed her.

It was all so simple, normal, organized, and even practiced, yet Spencer couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. This feeling increased when, as he moved to get into the elevator with the others, Hotch stopped him, saying, "Let's take the other one."

Spencer looked into the closing elevator. There was still plenty of room for them both.

"Reid," Hotch started then looked away from him for a second.

So this case was about him. His chest tightened with fear. "What's with this case?"

"Lily. She's missing."

"Missing?" Icy cold terror washed over Spencer.

"I'm the only person on the team who knows who she is. JJ has a hunch though. We can say you don't want to see her mother. No one has to know, if you want to stay-"

Spencer cut Hotch off with a stream of uncharacteristically fierce curses. "I'm coming. You know better than anyone that I have to be there."

Hotch nodded in understanding as the elevator dinged open. "I know you do."

As the elevator descended with them inside it, a terrifying thought hit Spencer.

_Lily could all ready be dead._


	4. Chapter 4

Derek pulled the information about the case up on his tablet in silence. Pretty Boy sat down beside him, and Derek snuck a sideways glance at the genius. Reid was doing a poor job of masking his anxiety.

Why was he so nervous?

He was about to ask when Garcia came over the video feed, ready to brief the team.

"Okay my pretty little superheroes, five year old Lily Arnold went missing from a park in Newport, Oregon, almost three and a half hours ago. We were called in because her mom asked for us. The rest is in your tablets."

"Wait a second," JJ spoke up. "Lila Archer is her mother?"

"The Lila Archer?" Prentiss asked. "From that cancelled show Emotional Cages?"

"The one and only." Garcia answered.

"But she went off the grid, disappeared five and a half years ago." Prentiss said. Derek could tell when it hit his partner. "When she couldn't hide that she was pregnant."

"She didn't go off the grid." Garcia contradicted. "She just changed her last name and moved to Oregon. Then had a baby."

"Have they looked into the father as a suspect?" Rossi asked.

"No need." Was Hotch's clipped answer.

A sickening thought hit Derek in the gut. He asked Garcia, "Who is Lily's dad, anyway?"

"Nobody really knows. Let me see what I can find ou- Oh my g- oh my. Oh no. No, no, no. " A look of horror crossed her face before fierce determination took its place. "You find that little girl and you bring her home safe. That is a direct order."

"Isn't that Hotch's line?" Prentiss asked.

"I mean it, you guys. This just got personal."

So Baby Girl didn't actually answer his question, but she'd said enough for him to know that his hunch was right.

Derek looked at Reid, Hotch, and JJ. An understanding flashed between the four of them before they all six gave the case their fullest attention. Someone had messed with the wrong team.


	5. Chapter 5

Emily had rarely seen the team as focused as they were now. She was certain she'd never seen Reid so uptight, not ever. The emotion on the jet was almost palpable. Stress, fear, and anger mingled and mixed.

At the core of it all was a steely determination, a determination to find the girl. To win.

They always took it harder when children were involved. This, this felt different though, worse somehow.

It was something that reminded Emily of when Drew Jacobs had held Seaver. Seaver hadn't been a part of their family yet, not really. There had been an understanding though, that, if nothing else, she meant something to Rossi. So they had worked just a little harder to get to her. This felt the same way for some reason.

And what about the look that had passed between Hotch, Morgan, Reid and JJ? What about Garcia's passionate demand that they get Lily back safely? Emily knew that she and Rossi were out of the loop on something concerning Lila Archer, but what? And why did she have the feeling that whatever it was had just gotten a whole lot bigger?


	6. Chapter 6

Lila Archer – she had never been able to think of herself as Arnold – had never been so scared in her life. Not even when she had been staring down the barrel of Maggie's gun had she been this terrified. For over three hours straight, she had been crying, unable to make herself stop.

She heard a noise outside the room she was occupying in the NPD. Looking out the window, she saw four familiar faces and two other people with them. They would be Agents Prentiss and Rossi.

They were here. He was here. Now everything was going to be okay. No one understood her five year old fifth grader better than him. Lila had full confidence in them.

As she watched, they went in four different directions, working like a well-oiled machine. Agent Hotchner went to talk to Detective Randall and then the little bit of press that was there. Agent Jareau took out her cell phone and started calling people; Lila was pretty sure she heard the words "press conference" in each call. Agents Prentiss and Rossi looked like they were getting everything set up in a corner of the station. Agent Morgan and Spencer were heading towards the room where she had holed up and adamantly refused to leave.

And then they were there with her. As soon as Agent Morgan had shut the door behind them, she launched up out of the chair that she had been sitting in for what felt like a lifetime and flew into Spencer's arms. She had thought she was almost cried out, but as soon as she touched Spencer, she began to sob bitterly once again.

She was almost startled when he wrapped his arms around her. The last time he'd done so –at least when he wasn't drugged or drunk – had been before the Henkel incident. Yet here he was now, murmuring reassurances into her hair while Agent Morgan watched in silence.

After a minute, Spencer pulled away and said, "I'd like to do a cognitive interview with you. Can you do that?"

Lila wiped away her tears and sniffed, trying to collect herself, and nodded. "Anything."

"Hey," Spencer leaned down until he was looking her in the eye. He tenderly brushed away a stray tear before it fell from her eyelashes. "We will find her."

"But will she be okay when we do?"

"She's your daughter, Lila. Statistically though, there's a ninety-nine percent chance of it."

It had been a rhetorical question. Her daughter was missing. Her thoughts were in more than a whirl. Yet she found herself managing to smile.

And it was all Spencer's fault.


	7. Chapter 7

It was approaching 9 p.m. and they still couldn't put together all the pieces of the puzzle, so to speak. Aaron couldn't bear to look at Reid, knowing as he did the torture that his youngest agent was going through.

Lila, whom Aaron thought had left earlier, came back into the station carrying three pizza boxes.

"What are you doing?" Reid asked. "I thought you'd gone home."

Aaron saw Rossi's and Prentiss' surprise at Reid's use of the word "home", but no one commented.

"I will when you will. Besides, you need to eat." She set the boxes down on the table around which the team was all gathered.

"Have you eaten?" Reid asked her as the other's helped themselves to pizza.

Lila shook her head to indicate negatively.

"You should." Reid answered.

"So should you." Lila pointed out.

Reid glared and sighed heavily before he opened the pizza box nearest to him and pulled out a single slice. He took a bite and set it down on a plate. Then he put another piece on a different plate and handed in to Lila. She accepted it with a small, miserable smile of thanks.

The way the two of them acted reminded Aaron of himself and Haley – after the divorce. They had both still cared for the other and regretted what had happened, but neither would admit it.

Another thing that was in the back of his mind: Reid and Lila had definitely spent more time together than what they had had during the stalker case. The way Reid was acting told Aaron that Reid had been a part of Lily's life long before now as well.

Before the thought could really get his attention, his cell phone rang. At this hour? Caller I.D. verified that it was Garcia.

"Yes, Garcia?" he answered it.

"Are we alone? Just you and I?"

"No."

"Well get that way." She sounded like she was in a state of anxious excitement and Aaron wasn't sure what to expect.

Aaron got JJ's attention and said, motioning to his phone, "I'll be right back." Then he walked across the room. "What did you find out, Garcia?"

"Are you sitting down?"

He rolled his eyes a little, needing to loosen up some, but complied. "I am now."

"Okay, so I got bored because I had nothing to do, and I started digging into little Lily's life – say that ten times fast."

"Your point, Garcia?" he asked, turning to watch as Lila nodded off to get some much-needed sleep at long last, with the help of nothing but a hard, wooden bench.

"G-man is divorced."

"What?"

"Yeah. He apparently snuck away for a little ceremony with Lila later during the night that we caught Maggie. He was served the divorce papers four months after Henkel. But here's where it gets interesting, like,  _really_ interesting. Lila never signed the divorce papers. Never. Soooooooo, the divorce was never finalized, not for all these years."

Aaron watched, feeling a little stunned, as Reid took off his suit and used to cover Lila. "They're in no hurry to change that fact either." He noted.

"Do you think he knows though?"

"Knows what?"

"That he's still married."

Hearing it put so blatantly startled Aaron, giving him pause before he asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Well, he tries to pretend that his date with JJ never happened. He refuses to talk about it. That was before he would have been divorced. Besides, what's more, he practically dated Seaver, after he would've been divorced. Think about it, this is Reid we're talking about. He's not the cheating type. It's a stretch to say he's even the dating type."

"I don't know. That's a good question though."

They talked for a minute more as he updated her on the case. Then he hung up and started back towards the team, trying to decide whether or not he should take Reid aside for a private conversation.

Before he could decide, Reid turned from where he had been staring at the geographical profile with a bright look in his eyes. "I know where Lily is!"


	8. Chapter 8

Dave crept along behind Hotch and Morgan. One by one, single file, they moved silently towards the house. Hotch motioned for Prentiss and Morgan to take the front entrance, and then for Dave and Reid to cover the back one.

Dave went first, but he could tell that Reid was unusually antsy. Why?

Dave did his best to put it out of his mind and focused on finding both the un-sub and Lily.

He and Reid both crouched beneath a window beside the door. Before they could do anything else, JJ came through their earpieces, saying, "We have our unsub in custody!"

Reid was inside the walk-in basement before Dave could even stand up straight. When Dave went to stand in the doorway, Reid was cradling a young, blonde girl who was chained to the floor via a shackle on her ankle. They had found Lily.

Dave didn't understand much of what the sobbing child was saying, but what he did understand cracked the mystery of Reid's odd behavior wide open.

"I knew you'd come and find me, Daddy."


	9. Chapter 9

Garcia impatiently tapped her hot pink heel against the floor of her lair. Derek had called her to say that Reid had a hunch about where Lily and the unsub where that the team was following up on. That had been half an hour ago.

They had better not have forgotten about her. It was almost ten at night, she had cancelled a date with Kevin, but above all she needed to know that Reid's kid was safe.

She answered the phone before it had let out even a full ring. "Yes?"

"Reid, JJ, and I are taking Lily home now." Hotch answered the question she didn't ask. "We got Colson."

"How's Lily?"

"She's perfectly fine. Apparently five year old fifth graders can induce Stockholm syndrome in their captors."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. She won't let go of her dad. Or maybe he won't let go of her. I can't tell which it is."

Garcia burst out laughing. Relief was obvious in her boss's voice. "Are you guys coming home tomorrow?"

"NO!" A girl's voice was heard loud and clear. Lily. She continued calmly. "There are a few things that need ironed out here first."

"Well, okay then."

"We'll be back tomorrow night." Hotch replied. "Good night, Garcia, and good work today."

"Thanks, Hotch. Good night. Sleep well, g-people."


	10. Chapter 10

"Lily,"

The man was there. The man who walked dogs past her house every Tuesday. The man who had taken her. He was trying to get her again! NO! He had her! He was shaking her! NO!

"Lily, wake up, wake up, it's Daddy, I've got you. You're safe now, it's just Daddy."

Her eyes flew open, and she gasped for breath as Daddy pulled her close. She buried her face in his chest, so, so glad he was here for her.

"It was just a nightmare, junior g-man. He can't get to you anymore. I've got you now."

"Promise you won't leave me?" She knew she had found a major window of opportunity to get Mom to tell Daddy the truth about the divorce, and she needed to use it while she could. Even if she knew it was sort of wrong.

"I'll do the best I can." He answered.

She sighed internally. It hadn't escaped her notice that he never promised to stay. No matter what, he just wouldn't do it. He knew better than anyone else the way her mind worked. He also knew that she would use anything he gave her against him to try and get him to stick around.

But the part of her that Daddy often forgot was that she was an actress's daughter as well. And Mom had taught her things. While Daddy might fall for most of it, his team wouldn't be so easy to fool, which meant it was time to employ a language barrier.

She made her tone pitiful, tired, and broken as she said in Spanish, making certain that she didn't lie, because Daddy would catch her in that, "I need you, Daddy, please. You understand, don't you? You still come to Mom when something happens to you. Why won't you promise me the same thing?"

"You heard my boss, we're going home tomorrow night. I can only stay until then. Hey, look," he sounded relieved. "We're home."

He got out of the SUV with her still in his arms. Mom hurried out of the house towards them. She was crying. She tried to take Lily, but the girl stubbornly grabbed fistfuls of her father's shirt and Mom let her stay where she was, taking them both in her arms.

Once they finally made their way inside, the team too, Lily let go of Daddy long enough to take a bath. She insisted on doing it herself. She needed time to brainstorm. She knew that very few people knew who her daddy was, but she also knew that the agents in the SUV with them were some of those few people.

Maybe they would help her.

When Lily got out of the bathroom, Mom sat her down at the kitchen table with a bowl of cereal before bed. One of the lady agents and the African-American one, Lily recognized them from Daddy's pictures as Agents Prentiss and Morgan, came over to her and introduced themselves as Emily and Derek.

"My boss told me that you really want to be with your daddy." Emily started, sliding into the chair where Mom usually sat.

"I'm in fifth grade, you know." Lily said, telling the agent as gently as she knew how not to talk to her like she was a baby. "How does he know that?" Lily asked.

"I'm a linguist. He told me what you said and I translated it. I told my partner here what you said. Also, I talked to our computer tech at Quantico. Long story short, we found out about your parents' sticky marital situation. Would you like some help?"

"What do have in mind?" Lily asked slowly, liking the direction this was headed in.

Derek waved Hotch and JJ over and quietly explained the plan. A slow smile sprouted on Lily's face. This was going to be good.


	11. Chapter 11

JJ couldn't believe they had talked her into this. She couldn't believe Aaron had actually agreed to this. She couldn't believe that she had been on a date with a  _married_  man.

Here went nothing.

As if reading her thoughts, Emily whispered in her ear from behind, "At least he's actually your real boyfriend. I have to do this with Morgan. Why are we doing this again?"

"To show those two what they can't have."

JJ walked into the living room of Lila's house wearing her pajamas. Emily, also in pajamas, stayed in the hallway. Aaron looked up from a conversation with Rossi to survey her casual ensemble. The look that passed through his eyes as she curled up beside him sent strange, wonderful feelings into her gut.

She leaned over, resting her head on his chest. Aaron wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him.

JJ looked over in time to see Emily come into the room and make a bee-line for Morgan. Emily shot her partner a cocky grin before she sat down on his lap and slung her legs across the couch so that she was sideways on the couch. Then she reclined back until her head rested on Morgan's arm on the arm rest. Morgan began to run his hands through Emily's dark locks.

Apparently Lila wasn't the only actress in the house.

JJ felt Aaron press a kiss to her scalp.

"I love you." JJ said clearly. Then she said a line that she had coordinated with him. "Have you called Jack yet?"

"It's too late." He answered.

"Call him." Lily advised. "He won't care. He'll just want to hear from you and make sure you're okay."

The look on Reid's face as he watched all of this was priceless. They had him completely fooled.

JJ had a feeling that this was going to be a lot of fun.

 


	12. Chapter 12

Spencer's eyes widened when Lila walked into the room. She had changed clothes, and was now wearing a white tank top and red short shorts. Lily looked between them before she began to sing quietly, "But I know we can make it as long as you say it

So tell me that you love me yeah  
And tell me that I take your breath away  
And maybe if you take one more than I would know for sure  
There's nothing left to say  
Tell me that you love me anyway…"

Lila shot a glare towards her daughter. "Bed. Now."

"But, Mom-"

"Don't worry, Lily," JJ broke in. "We have everything under control. We all know you're tired."

"Come on, kiddo," Spencer stood up. "I'll tuck you in."

Lily nodded, slipping her hand into Spencer's. His daughter. He wasn't a strong man by any means, but his daughter made him think that he would take on anything necessary to keep her safe. And if that was what she did, her mother…

Those were thoughts best left alone. He'd signed the divorce papers years ago. She wasn't his anymore. He sighed heavily with regret as he tucked Lily in to bed.

"Is everything okay, Daddy?" Lily asked softly, carbon copies of her mother's eyes wide behind her purple glasses.

Spencer sat down on her bed and nodded. "Don't forget about your glasses."

She took them off and put them on her bed-side table.

"I love you. You know that, right?" Spencer asked, desperate to know that he had done something right with his daughter.

"I know, Daddy."

"Good." He stood up. "Good night, Lily."

"Good night."

He saw the fear in his daughter's eyes as he went towards the door. She was a fiercely independent girl though; he didn't want to embarrass her. He closed her bedroom door behind her, wanting all the time to stay and hold her until the monsters disappeared. Lily was right, he did understand that, and it made him all the more glad that they had caught Colson.

"Daddy," There was a tint of panic to his little girl's voice before the door had barely closed behind him.

He poked his head back into the room. "Yeah?"

"You forgot to turn my night light on."

"Sorry, sweetness."

He crossed the room and turned the atom shaped thing on. Then he left again. Again before he was barely out the door, Lily called out, "Daddy?"

This time he went all the way into the room. "Yes?"

"C-Can you stay with me? Please?"

"Of course I will."

He went over to her bed and sat back down on it. Lily traced the outline of one of the stars on her comforter, embarrassed, probably.

"You were very strong today, Lily. It's okay." Spencer whispered, tucking a strand of wavy hair behind his daughter's ear.

She sniffled quietly, and in the mellow light, Spencer saw the turmoil in her face plainly. Spencer was reminded again that no matter how smart she was, she was still five, and she had just been through the most traumatic day of her life.

"Come here, baby. I've got you."

He held his arms out to her and she crawled into them, burying her head in his chest. She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight. He wrapped one arm around her and used the other to smooth back her hair. He rubbed small circle on her back as he held her close. Slowly, Spencer felt her relax against him. When he looked down at her face, she was asleep.

He carefully laid her down in her bed and pulled the comforter over her small frame. He stood watching her for a moment, with no idea of how long he'd spent in her room, before he turned and silently slipped out. He walked back into the living room, bittersweet thoughts swirling in his mind.

Derek and Emily had left to go to bed, but Lila, Hotch, and JJ were still up and talking quietly.

"Is she okay?" Lila looked up at him and asked as he appeared in the doorway.

"She's asleep for now." Spencer answered.

"I think I'll head to bed." JJ said.

She gave Hotch a long, deep kiss before going down the hallway.

"Me too." Hotch said. He stood up, adding, "Take as much time off as you need, Reid."

"Thanks." Spencer replied to his boss back. He took the seat his boss had vacated.

Lila watched to make sure that everyone was out of earshot before she asked, "So, are they all dating each other or something?"

"Hotch and JJ, yes. Prentiss and Morgan, that's definitely news to me. I think they're in cahoots with Lily though."

"Acting? I thought so." The ticking of the clock was only thing heard for a minute before Lila asked, "Will Lily be okay?"

Spencer couldn't help the venom that laced his words as he said, "As long as you're willing to stick with it and help her get through it."

Lila swallowed, nervous, before she said, "Spencer, there's something you should know."

She didn't get a chance to finish though, as Lily's blood-curdling scream pierced the air. Spencer shot up and into his daughter's bedroom. She was sitting up in her bed, sobbing. He scooped her up into his arms. "It's okay, sweetness, I've got you. Daddy has it all under control."

He turned to carry her back into the living room. Lila stood in the doorway, looking concerned.  _Nightmare,_ he mouthed. Lila nodded; understanding as well as she could, and followed him back into the living room. Spencer sat back down on the couch, repeating what he had done in Lily's bedroom only a few minutes before. Lila watched him carefully.

Dilaudid had been the ruining factor in his marriage. Lila had found him high one too many times and between that and the geographical distance between them, everything had fallen apart. Surely Lila didn't think he was still using?

Lily moved so that her head rested in the bend of his arm curled up for a moment, her tears dried. Then she sat up and began to roll up his sleeve.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"It's crinkly when I'm trying to go to sleep."

She was lying and he knew it. But wait a second! He sent his daughter, his marvelous, brilliant daughter, a small smile. "Okay."

He knew Lila was watching as Lily put his sleeve well above his elbow. Lila moved uncertainly to sit down beside him, rubbing Lily's back as the girl lay back down. He saw, though, when her eyes skittered to where the tell-tale needle pinpricks would be, if there had been any.

Seeing there were none, she sat back slowly against the couch, obviously deep in thought. Lily soon went back to sleep. Spencer put her back to bed and went back into the living room, curious now as to what Lila would say.

He hesitated in taking his previous seat, as it would mean sitting by Lila. He wanted to. He really wanted to. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable though.

"We need to talk." Lila sounded dead serious.

She patted the couch beside her and he sat down slowly and carefully. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She looked away and huffed. "Everything."

She turned back to him, drew her legs up under her, and twisted her hands in her lap, looking at them. She just sat that way for a minute, and again the ticking of the clock was the only noise. Then she jumped up from the couch.

"There's something I need to show you." She motioned for him to follow her into the library.

He stood and did as she'd indicated; flipping on the light switch as she barreled ahead into the dark, still room. She took a key and opened one of the drawers of the filing cabinet in a corner. When she turned back around to face him she was holding a document in her hands. She was shaking too. He moved forward, holding his arms out in case she fell or fainted. Had the day's events finally caught up with her?

"I'm fine." She answered his unspoken question. "Here." She gingerly handed the document to him.

He barely had to glance at it before he knew what it was. "Why are you showing me the divorce papers?"

"Because – Just look at them."

He took the hated thing and flipped quickly through it, quickly even for him. He stopped when he reached the first page that required their signatures. The line where her name belonged was blank, empty, void, and very _un_ signed. So was every one of "her" lines after that. This was the original copy. Which meant that nothing had been filed. Which meant… "We're not divorced?"

She shook her head in silence. She was terrified, he realized. Then she said with a shaky smile, "Do you know that, statistically, children from two parent households attain three more years of higher education then children from single parent households?"

He remembered trying that line on his parents. It hadn't worked then, but this was different. "Lila," He didn't know what to say. The only word he could voice was a stunned, "Why?"

"Because I couldn't. I just couldn't. I couldn't give up on you. On us." She was on the verge of tears. "On that little girl in the other room who is going to need  _both_ of her parents  _together_  to get through this. I need you too, Spencer. I want you to be my husband and I want to be your wife again. I want to move to Virginia. I want you back." A tear slid down her cheek as she asked, "Do you remember your visit in February? When we got really drunk while Lily was at a friend's house?"

He nodded, confused at the question.

She brushed the tear away. "Do you remember what we did?"

He shook his head, unable to find words to say.

She said quietly, "Well, there's someone else who needs you, Spencer. Our baby is going to need his daddy."

"We-?You're-?"

She nodded, a shaky smile on her lips. He was in shock. "Say something, Spencer." She finally ordered.

He said the first thing that came to mind. "Have you told Lily yet?"

"No. I thought you should know first."

"How do you know it's a boy this time? You're just past the first trimester, right?"

She shrugged. "I just have a feeling."

"Should we tell Lily?"

"Not yet. And you're supposed to tell me what you think of that." She stabbed the document he still held.

He looked at it, looked at her, and smiled. Then he walked over to the filing cabinet and fed the first page of the document through the shredder beside the cabinet. "That's what I think."

"I like that thought." Lila walked over to him and he wrapped his arm around her waist.

They took turns shredding the thing, slowly, a page at a time, relishing what it meant and stood for for them and their family. When the last page had disappeared into the shredder, when the shredder was silent, Spencer turned to Lila, to his wife, and pulled her as close as he could get her, giving her a deep, long kiss.

When they pulled away, too soon in Spencer's opinion, Lila murmured against his lips, "If I had known you were going to do that, I would have told you forever ago."

He smiled and leaned in for another kiss, but heard a small voice ask, "What were you shredding? And what are you doing?"

They spun guiltily around to see Lily standing warily in the doorway. "Um-" He looked to Lila for an answer.

"I told him."

Lily paled. "And?"

"And it's the best news I've heard in- It's the best news I've heard." Spencer answered.

"So you're together again?" Lily asked hopefully.

"If that's okay with you." Lila answered, eyes bright.

"YES!" Lily screamed.

"Shhh." Spencer and Lila both hurried to hush her.

"People are sleeping." Lila said.

"And you really don't want to wake Emily Prentiss. Believe me. You'll only do that once." Spencer added.

Lily nodded quickly. "Can we tell the team?"

"In the morning." Spencer answered.

"Or maybe not." Lila said thoughtfully. "There's something about Agents Morgan and Prentiss. I think we should let them be a couple for a little while more yet."

Spencer and Lily both agreed. Then Lila decided it was time to put a damper on Lily's party. "You really should go to bed, sweetheart. You need to try and get a little sleep at least."

Lily looked ready to pout.

"I'll tell you a story." Spencer bargained.

She nodded as they headed back to her bedroom. "Anne of Green Gables."

"Only one chapter, it's late." He covered her up and settled back against the headboard of Lily's bed. Spencer began to recite. "'Chapter one: Mrs. Rachel Lynde is surprised..."

He looked up to see Lila again in the doorway. She was smiling softly and heard her quote, "Richer than I you can never be - I had a Mother who read to me."

"Strickland Gillilan." Lily remarked.

Lila chuckled. "You would know."


	13. Chapter 13

Derek Morgan was afraid of very few things, but a sleeping Emily Prentiss was among those things. At five that morning, he had gotten to thinking that if he was going to convince Reid that he was with Emily there were some things that would have to appear differently than they actually were. So he had slipped past a sleeping Rossi and into Emily's bedroom. He had taken a seat in a chair there and had tried to go back to sleep. So far, two hours later, he was having no such luck.

He heard someone stirring around outside and got up to see who it was. He peeked out in time to see Reid. He knew Pretty Boy had originally decided to sleep in Lily's room, so why was he coming out of Lila's? Had they smoothed everything over? He really hoped so.

"WHAT ARE Y-!"

Derek jumped onto the bed and covered Emily's mouth while she was in mid-scream. All was silent in the room and Derek could hear Reid retracing his steps back toward the bedroom. Derek flung himself under the covers and pulled Emily's head to rest on his chest. He was here to keep up appearances, after all.

Derek heard Reid snort from the other side of the door. Then the idiot genius of a doctor continued on his way. Derek released all hold on Emily as if he'd been burned, then flipped onto his back, staring at the ceiling. He waited for Emily to try to murder him.

"Just to be clear, you did that because of Reid?" Emily was shaken, but she wasn't yelling. That had to be a good sign. Right?

"No duh." Morgan answered.

"Morgan." Emily nodded towards the doorway.

He turned to look. Lily was standing there shaking her head, a small smile on her face. Come to think of it, it was the same smile Reid had worn when he had accused Derek of liking Emily and talked about the right woman coming along when they were on the jet so long ago it seemed.

"Acting." Derek offered as an explanation.

Lily gave him the same look her father had when he'd tried to deny it then. "Uh-huh. Well, breakfast is almost ready. Mom says if you want some, you'd better quit making out and come on."

"Hey, how is that going, your parents?"

"I was in bed, remember?" Then she disappeared.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhg." Emily groaned on her back beside him. "Be a good little boyfriend and get out of my bed."

Derek did as ordered, still uncertain as to what was going to happen to him over waking her up. "I'll get dressed and wait by your door. We can make a grand entrance together."

"Fine." Emily agreed. "By the way, I hate you for suggesting we do this."

"It's not that big of a deal. We all ready spend our lives together. All we have to do is hold hands a couple of times and be done with it. Besides, is it really that bad?"

Emily huffed.

"For Lily?" Derek added.

"I'll live until tonight." Emily conceded.

"Good." Derek leaned down over her and kissed her quickly.

Her eyes were wide as he straightened up and he didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. "Why?" she asked.

"We're keeping up appearances, aren't we my love?"

She hit him with the pillow in response and ordered him out.


	14. Chapter 14

Emily leaned against the wall outside of Derek's bedroom. Unless he was stalling, there was no godly reason he should be taking this long to get ready for the day. As the thought crossed her mind, he emerged from his room.

Morning, Princess." He greeted. She just rolled her eyes. He laughed. "Hey, Babe, you want a ride?" He turned around so that his back was facing her. "Hop on."

She rolled her eyes again and did as he'd said. She leaned so that she could whisper in his ear as he straightened up and started for the kitchen. "If you ever call me 'Babe' again, I will shoot you, and I will go for the kill shot. Are we clear?"

"Anything you say, sweetheart." They were silent as he tromped into the kitchen. As they reached the doorway, he said loudly, "Man, Princess, you're not exactly a light load!"

Emily slapped him as she hopped off of his back.

"Maybe she's pregnant." Lila offered, flipping a pancake by the stove.

"Not possible." Derek answered, trying to snitch a finished pancake.

Emily didn't answer though; she was too busy trying to interpret the look on Reid's face. He was hiding something and it was something good. She dug her smart phone out of her pocket and walked into the living room to call Garcia.

"Previously sleeping oracle of wisdom at your service." came Garcia's groggy address. "What can I do you for?"

"Sorry I woke you, Garcia, but is there any chance that Lila is preg-"

"Oh my goodness!" Garcia interrupted her mid-sentence, obviously awake now. "I totally forgot to tell you guys!"

"Is that a yes?" Emily asked.

"In all the languages you know. It just kinda paled and was forgotten next to the news that she had married the baby of the family. Do you think he knows?"

"Which he?"

"Reid!"

"I think he found out sometime last night. He looks happy about it, so I'm guessing that he and Lila are at least on good terms. Really good terms, actually. I think they slept together last night." Emily pulled the phone away from her ear as Garcia screamed and squealed. Emily burst out laughing. "I'll see you when we get home, Garcia."

"Hey, hey, hey, don't hang up on me yet. How is your relationship with my chocolate thunder god going?"

Emily groaned, but then she thought of the kiss. She subconsciously bit her fingernail before answering carefully, "I'm not sure yet."

"You're totally into him!" Garcia squealed.

"What! No! No! Not possible! It's Derek!"

"Oh, so he's 'Derek' now, is he?"

"And whatever people say, we did not sleep together last night." Emily could have sworn she heard Garcia doing a happy dance. "Goodbye, Garcia. I'm hanging up now. I'll see you at back Quantico."

 


	15. Chapter 15

Lila listened in silence as the team filtered onto the jet. She and Lily were stowed in the mini-kitchen compartment of the jet. After they were in the air, Lily looked up at her and mouthed,  _Now?_

Lila nodded, grinning. Lily slipped out into the main part and Lila heard the various reactions of the team.

"Tell me we don't have a stowaway without her mama here." Agent Morgan said.

"You don't." Lila answered, pulling back the curtain and stepping out into plain sight.

"Is this a good sign?" Agent Rossi asked.

"Yeah." Lila answered, curling up in a seat beside Spencer. "Spencer and I are back together again," She answered the unasked question. "so Lily and I are moving in with him."

"Tell them what else." Spencer prompted eagerly.

"You tell them, it's your team."

"Hey," JJ interjected. "We're your team now too."

"Lily could do it." Lila said.

"I say we just let them profile." Spencer said.

"Great." Lila moaned. "Hey," she turned to Agents Prentiss and Morgan, who were sitting remarkably close. "Since we're together like you wanted, you know you can stop acting like a couple, right?"

"We could." Agent Morgan said slowly. "But why would we?"

"Now Rossi is single and alone." Agent Prentiss said with a pretend pout.

"That's not what I saw!" Spencer crowed. "You know that convention I went to Garcia with? We saw him with the devil incarnate!"

"Who?" Lila asked.

"Strauss?" JJ squealed.

"No way!" Agent Prentiss gasped.

JJ leaned conspiratorially towards Agent Prentiss. "You know we have to help them, right, Em?"

Agent Prentiss nodded, and then she looked at Lila. "Hey, you're from Hollywood. Do you want to help us out?"

Lila smirked. "Sure, we have time to kill." The three of them moved to a table away from the others and sat down. "So what are you thinking, Agent Prentiss?"

"Please, call me Emily. By the way, let me be the first to welcome you to the sisterhood of the BAU."


End file.
